Hello,
It is with great sadness that I announce the end of One Fan at a Time. I created this blog several years ago to spread the word about some of my favorite artists in the Philadelphia, PA area. I feel as though I have accomplished that to some extent and it’s all thanks to you. I’ve received a lot of support and kind words about this blog over the years and I appreciate it.

I began this year with the motivation and determination to make this the best blog ever. Now that it’s almost November and little progress has been made to improve this blog I think it’s time to say goodbye. Sadly, my heart just isn’t in One Fan at a Time anymore and you deserve better.

So it’s with a bittersweet goodbye that I write this final post for One Fan at a Time. No worries, just know that if the inspiration ever finds me again I’ll start another blog in a heartbeat. Anyways, I’m still an immense music enthusiast who is constantly in awe of all the great music talent in this area—that can never be taken away from me.

Accepting a show invite to see a band I’m not familiar with and who is not even from this area is something I don’t do but I took a chance on Priory and it paid off. Priory is a Portland duo (Brandon Rush and Kyle Sears who are touring with three other band members) that creates alternative/rock music with an electronica undertone that’s just poppy enough to make it approachable. Their sound is layered so skillfully that it forms a cohesive flow with lasting depth.

Tuesday night Priory played to a Philly crowed that was slowly filling in the space at Union Transfer. Although the crowd did not seem overly familiar with Priory’s music they did seem to like it enough to respect their performance which actually speaks a lot to how good a band Priory is and to their potential. Opening bands never get super long sets but only allotting twenty-five minutes for Priory was a tease—this band deserved a longer set. Hearing the infectiously inspiring anthemic “Weekend” live was a real treat—that song has such lyrical heart. At that point it dawned on me, “I think I know this song from Radio 104.5 FM.” Priory’s set contained songs from ‘Weekend’ EP which will be released October 14th, 2014. I think you’re going to want to hear this one. Looks like Priory is my new favorite band and I couldn’t be happier.

The show continued with a performance by Halsey that caught my attention when she covered The Killer’s “When You Were Young.” Sometimes I’m just excited to hear what cover an artist decides to throw into their set. The Kooks was clearly the headliner based on the crowd response but just like the pervious bands this night I had never seen them live before nor knew much about their music. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this band from friends but I never took the time to check The Kooks out until now. After The Kooks’ set and their three song encore (“See Me Now” from their new album, ‘Listen’, sounded so beautiful) I can honestly say that I like this band—they deliver good rock music.

]]>http://www.onefanatatime.com/2014/10/the-kooks-halsey-and-priory-at-union-transfer-1007-live-review/feed/0http://www.onefanatatime.com/2014/10/the-kooks-halsey-and-priory-at-union-transfer-1007-live-review/Shows This Week: Oct 6 – Oct 12, 2014http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/onefanatatime/~3/ygdy3TqvHPM/
http://www.onefanatatime.com/2014/10/shows-this-week-oct-6-oct-12-2014/#commentsTue, 07 Oct 2014 04:05:51 +0000http://onefanatatime.com/?p=4281We’re getting back to posting our weekly show highlight, Shows This Week. We could never list all the shows in the Philly area be we think this is a good start.

Tuesday, October 7
10.07.14: Radio 104.5 Presents: The Kooks, Halsey, Priory @ Union Transfer (Phila, PA)We can’t wait to see Priory because “Weekend” has been playing in our heads for days.

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Hello, here’s a quick update about some of the things we’ve been working on.

Back To BloggingWe are trying to find our way back to blogging on a fairly consistent basis. There is a lot of great music out there that we would love to blog about so we’ll do our best to share it all with you. Most often our issue isn’t with finding the time to blog the trouble is finding the perfect words to express our love of the great music that we find. Well, we won’t give up on blogging and we hope you won’t give up on us.

Music Community
We think we finally have a definite direction and focus for the community portion of our blog and we will be unveiling it very soon. In the end, we decided to go with a forum so everyone can contribute their ideas in an organized fashion. There’s not much else that we can say about the forum at this point so you’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, think of topics to bring to the forum—the Philly music community wants to hear from you. Remember the music community is for anyone who likes music and wants to exchange ideas, information and opinions about the music of the Philadelphia, PA area.

One Fan Sessions
We’ve been toying with the idea of relaunching One Fan Sessions for quite some time now and we are so close to filming some sessions. As soon as we have a launch date we will pass the details along to you. At this point we have no clue who will be our session debut artist but we’ll have to send out some invites soon. We hope artists are ready to get involved because we’re excited to give One Fan Sessions a go.

American Wrestlers thank you so much for sharing your music with me. It only took a few seconds of “I Can Do No Wrong” before my ears began to smile and I knew I had to share this music discovery with everyone else. I honestly don’t even know if American Wrestlers fits within the focus of this blog. I will gladly make an exception for American Wrestlers and their effortless indie rock, those vocals, and that creative decision to record their music to tape that makes this music so hauntingly good. I hope that American Wrestlers really did move here (the Philly area) from far away because I would love to catch a live show someday. Wow, it’s moments like this that make music blogging totally worth it.

So, you owe it to yourself to give American Wrestlers a listen. I think you’re going to like what you hear. After all, I just found a new favorite artist and it’s American Wrestlers.

The doors were scheduled to open at 3PM at City Tap House for a show that was supposed to start at 3:45PM on the patio. Well, Mother Nature had other plans and the rain delayed the entire show. After all the equipment was moved and set up a second time in another outdoor location (one with a roof) the show finally began around 5:20PM. Did I consider leaving during that hour plus wait? Yes, but I was so close to seeing Illinois again so I couldn’t.

Mo Lowda & The Humble. Hmm. It’s funny how it went from me having never heard of this band to me seeing them two Saturdays in a row. I’m ok with it because I actually enjoy the alternative rock sound that this Philly based trio creates. These guys (Jordan Caiola – vocals/guitar, Shane Woods – drums, and Nate Matulis – bass) definitely like to jam too. So, what are the chances I’ll see Mo Lowda & The Humble again this coming Saturday?

Want to know the trick to getting me to go to a show? Just put Illinois on the bill and I’ll be there. Yes, it’s that simple. I LOVE ILLINOIS! Time and time again Illinois delivers incredible performances of their amazing music and I can’t help but to be awestruck. Plus, that Illinois live energy is highly addictive. I’ve been following Illinois since ’05 and I have never wavered in my support of this band—they’re too good to overlook and to remarkable to forget. Their Saturday show proved that yet again. The highlight of Saturday’s set for me was hearing “Summer” again. It’s a beautiful sounding song written by Chris Archibald and his daughter and it’s great. In many ways to think that Illinois is the best band ever is only fitting. By the way, does anyone know who won the game ball?

The headliner this show was Philly’s own, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I haven’t seen this band live in years but it was so good to see CYHSY again. It was so nice to hear “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth”—that’s my jam! Alec Ounsworth has a uniquely stunning sounding voice that absolutely shines in his songs. Whether it was old familiar tunes or new unfamiliar songs I enjoyed it all. After seeing Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Saturday night I’m kind of mad at myself for not keeping up with this band when their music is great. Sorry, CYHSY, I should have been a better fan.

Oh my, if there ever was an award for the most enthusiastic musician I think the keyboard player from CYHSY would win hands down. He was in such a zone and grooving that it was so awesome to watch.

Such a great show! Thank you all.

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Hello,

Years ago when One Fan at a Time (One Fan) was created there was always an underlying notion of growth. I dreamt of growth in several different ways: music discovery, reach, and voices. As far as music discovery goes I have definitely been introduced to and discovered more artists than I knew before One Fan. Although as a music enthusiast this is bound to happen. When it comes to reach I think One Fan is helping to spread the word about all the great music in the Philly area and this is an ongoing process. Sadly, when it comes to voices One Fan has always been just me. It’s my view of the Philly music scene with some influence from you. I want to change that. I want to hear more of your voices.

Going forward there will be more features added to One Fan at a Time so I can hear from you—fellow music enthusiasts. One Fan will keep the blog aspect. Yes, I’ll still write from time to time. Maybe I’ll even let you write some posts too. The most important piece to the new One Fan will be the effort to make it a real music community where we can exchange ideas, information, and opinions with a focus on the music of Philadelphia, PA.

Please join me as we journey to a new beginning for One Fan at a Time.

Thank you,
-JMT

P.S. – If you have any ideas and or feedback for the new One Fan please send a message to info[at]onefanatatime[.]com with the subject “New One Fan”.

A few days ago this video was posted on Joshua Marcus‘ Facebook page. I’m a Joshua Marcus fan originally because he was in the amazing Philly band, Like Moving Insects. Sadly, I discovered Like Moving Insects shortly before the band ended. Thankfully I had their album, Burn Your Bridges, and a handful of memories to cherish so I was able to move on. Then I became aware of Joshua Marcus‘ solo work and I was impressed. There is something so simple about Marcus’s music yet it holds a lot of depth. “The Light Across the Dust” is an all-around wonderful film with great music and a nice view of Philadelphia.

‘The Light Across the Dust” was filmed on location in Philadelphia in March of 2013. Nate Johnson conceived of the project as a homecoming/departure for Joshua Marcus, who had lived in Philadelphia for 11 years. The video includes several favorite West Philadelphia places, the Schuylkill River, 30th Street Station, The Woodlands Cemetery and more. Joshua’s old band of friends joins in to reconnect on some songs from his latest batch ‘A Song From Something Else’

These days the Tin Angel (Philadelphia, PA) might just be my favorite Philly venue. It’s a nice space with great sound, usually a good listening room, finding parking isn’t too big of an issue and the artist that perform at the Tin Angel are top-notch. Tin Angel sometimes I think you’re too good to me.

If you were at the Tin Angel this past Friday night then you saw Foxhound and Tumbling Bones perform. Foxhound (Chris Kasper and Kiley Ryan) opened the show with their heartfelt storytelling set to warm folk music, and beautiful vocals. Incredible! Check out the video of Foxhound performing “Crickets” from their Tin Angel set.

Tumbling Bones (Portland, ME) closed the show with their take on traditional American music with some original songs tossed in as well. This musical trio shared lead vocals, instruments and the stories behind their music and I enjoyed it all. Plus, the tap dancing was kind of awesome. Tumbling Bones are on tour headed back home but I hope they pass through Philly some other time.

One Fan (yes, that’s how we like to shorten the title) is starting over. We’re going to take the best of the old add some new and move forward. We need your help, what would YOU like to see in the new One Fan? Photos, videos, album reviews, show reviews, show listings, etc. Please let us know. Thank you!